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Geotextiles-A Potential Technical Textile Product

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Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research, 2017, 4(10):337-350

ISSN: 2394-2630
Review Article CODEN(USA): JSERBR

Geotextiles A Potential Technical Textile Product

Subrata Chandra Das1*, Debasree Paul2, Mir Muhammad Fahad1, Tarikul Islam3, Md.
Eanamul Haque Nizam4
1
Pabna Textile Engineering College, Pabna-6600, Department of Textiles, Ministry of Textiles and
Jute, Bangladesh
2
Department of Textile Engineering, Khwaja Yunus Ali University, Sirajgonj-6751, Bangladesh
3
Department of Textile Engineering, Port City International University, Chittagong, Bangladesh
4
School of Fashion Design and Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, China
Abstract Technical textiles has the diverse range of products which will lead the future world market and the
researchers from the various field of science and engineering will work together for the development of these
textile materials. Among various types of technical textiles, geotextiles possess very important class due to its
versatile applications in roads, dams and constructions industries. Geotextiles are the permeable textile materials
which mainly used for filtration, drainage, separation, reinforcement and stabilization purposes. Geotextiles is
the fastest growing industry and a promising field of technical textiles. This paper presented the potential of
geotextiles in civil and construction industries. The review paper will be introduced by first discussing technical
textiles and geotextiles as awhole. Next, the paper will continue on to discuss the raw materials such as natural
and synthetic fibers used in it, the manufacturing process and functional requirements. Finally, the functions and
major applications of geotextiles has been presented. The global market of geotextiles has also been addressed
here.

Keywords Technical textiles, geotextiles, filtration, woven, non-woven

1. Introduction
Technical textiles are considered to an amazing field in the range of textile science and engineering which have
diverse applications in all the sector of science and engineering. The modern age lead by the versatile products
of technical textiles. Technical textile can be defined, according to the Textile Terms & Definitions, published by

performance properties rather than their aesthetic or decorative

to be the fastest growing sector of the textile industrial sector and the global technical textiles market is expected
to reach USD 193.16 billion by 2022, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Global technical
textile market demand was 26.58 million tons in 2014 and is expected to reach 35.47 million tons by 2022,
growing at a CAGR of 3.7% from 2015 to 2022 [1, 2].
The leading international trade exhibition for technical textiles, Techtextil (organized biennially since the late
1980s by Messe Frankfurt in Germany and also in Osaka, Japan), defines 12 main application areas such as
agrotech (agriculture, aquaculture, horticulture and forestry), buildtech (building and construction), clothtech
(technical components of footwear and clothing), geotech (geotextiles and civil engineering), hometech
(technical components of furniture, household textiles and floorcoverings), indutech (filtration, conveying,
cleaning and other industrial uses), medtech (hygiene and medical), mobitech (automobiles, shipping, railways
and aerospace), oekotech (environmental protection), packtech (packaging), protech (personal and property

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protection) and sporttech (sport and leisure). Among these geotech or geotextiles has widely used all over the
world and one of the essential product for civil and construction engineering sector[1].

any textile materials used in the earth or soil for technical purpose is called geotextiels. The Textile Institute
defined geotextiles in Textile Terms and Definitions
drainage, separation, reinforcement and stabilization purposes as an integral part of civil engineering structures

permeable textiles used in conjunction with soils or rock as an integral part of a manmade project The
economic and environmental merits of using textiles to reinforce, stabilize, separate, drain and filter have
already well proven. It is basically employed for temporary roads and yards, permanent roads, repair of
permanent roads, railway tracks, embankments in soft ground, drainage applications, sports field construction,
retaining walls and erosion control [5-9]. Road construction was the largest application segment in 2015
accounting for over 40% of the market. Geotextiles are increasingly employed in the road construction industry
due to their growing awareness of the advantages they provide. Geotextiles are used as a component of the
foundation in laying roads, as they are suitable in strengthening soil by holding it together, thus resulting in a
longer lifespan of roads. The needs of geotextiles are increasing day by day in developing countries such as
China, Russia, India and Bangladesh among others, due to the strong infrastructural development in these
countries [5, 7, 8, 11-13].

2. Fibres used in Geotextiles

2.1. Natural Fibres
Natural fibers are obtained from plant, animal and mineral origin and large quantities of these fibers are
available worldwide. Natural fibres provide high strength, high modulus, low breaking extension and low
elasticity. Yarns and fabrics produced from natural fibres exhibits low levels of creep during applications.
Mineral fibres are brittle and not have suitable strength and flexibility. The important plant fibres that can be
employed in geotextile fabrication are jute, sisal, flax, hemp, abaca, ramie and coir. Geotextiles produced from
natural fibre are biodegradable, so these textile products could be specifically employed for short term functions.
Moreover, the primemerits of employing natural fibres in geotextiles are low cost, robustness,
strength/durability, availability, good drapeability and biodegradability/environment friendliness.

2.2. Synthetic fibres

Synthetic or man-made fibers are the major raw materials for the production of all types of geotextiles. There
are four major polymer families employed as raw materials for geosynthetics, i.e. polypropylene, polyester,
polyamide and polyethylene.

2.2.1. Polypropylene
Polypropylene has been the most widely used polymer for the manufacture of geotextiles because of its low
cost, suitable tensile properties and chemical inertness. Polypropylene has low density, which results in very low
cost per unit volume. The demerits of polypropylene are its sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and high
temperature and poor creep and mineral oil resistance. Hence, geotextiles made form polypropylene should be
employed under suitable installation and environmental conditions.

2.2.2. Polyester
Polyester or PET is also an important polymer applied in the production of geotextiles. It displays superior creep
resistance and tenacity values and is used in applications where the geotextile is subjected to high stresses and
elevated temperatures. The major demerits of polyester is susceptibility to hydrolytic degradation in soils
exceeding pH 10.

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2.2.3. Polyamide
Polyamides (nylon 6,6 and nylon 6) are employed in small quantities as traditional geotextiles. It can be noted
eep behavior, other
parameters such as fabric structure, finishing treatments applied to the fabric and the confining effect of any
surrounding soil could also influence their characteristics [4].

2.3. Comparative study of natural and synthetic fibers for geotextile applications:
In general, man-madefibers, such as polypropylene, polyester, polyethylene, polyamide etc., have lead the
geotextile industry, although the advantages of natural fibers should not be ignoreddue to environment friendly,
less costly, easily available and ecologically compatible as they are degraded within the soil [14]. Natural fibers
are basically used for temporary reinforcements and erosion-control uses of geotextiles. For example, in slope
stabilization, natural fibers such as jute, hemp or coir are needed for a relatively short period of time in order to
form the root structures after which the geotextile is needed to be decomposed for visual aesthetic reasons.
Several researchers have revealed the application of natural fibers including jute, coir, wood, flax and bamboo in
various applications of geotextiles such as soil erosion control, vertical drains, road bases, bank protection and
slope stabilization [14-24]. In addition, Ranganathan [25] has revealed the merits and possibility of jute-based
geotextiles for new products and applications such as super-sod, temporary haul roads, reinforcement fabric in
highway construction, wick drains etc. due to their high water uptake and moisture absorption that builds them
suitable materials for such uses. Likewise, the applications of a coir-based geotextile has exhibited a tremendous
improvement in the vegetal growth [14]. However, the coir geotextile is degraded because of the microbial
action in the soil in addition to the effect of rain and sun. Lekha [14] has found that coir net retained only 22%
of its initial tensile strength at the end of seven months after it was buried in the soil. Similar loss of strength in
coir netting was reported by Balan and Venkatappa Rao [26]. Thus, in uses where natural fibres are exposed to
microbiological agents and solar radiation, such fibers are seemed to have lost effectiveness [27]. Not only
natural fibers but also synthetic fibers such as polypropylene have also showed poor resistance to UV radiation.
Likewise, nylon with a higher tensile strength than polyester or polypropylene may tend to be degraded by
weathering [28]. However, nylon can resist at least twice the level of abrasion in comparison to polyester or
polypropylene fiber [29], but polyester has more abrasion resistance on exposure to UV light, whereas
polypropylene fiber has a superior resistance to fatigue-flexing. In roofing uses where by the fabric is placed
under higher tensile and flexural stresses and also subjected to abrasion or bursting stresses, polyester fibre with
greater tenacity and lesser elongation is further suitable. Polyester fibre is also least affected by acidic conditions
or changes in temperature that can occur due to seasonal variations. It can be mentioned that polyester fibre may
be employed for tidal-barrage protective devices for the same reasons of resistance to solar radiation and
mechanical stresses, in addition to resistance to salt solutions [30]. Besides, polypropylene fibre with lower
density leading to better buoyancy characteristics is more suitable for tidal barrages, which are frequently
subjected to battering [23]. It can be abridged that fiber can be selected for geotextiles applications on the basis
of constructions and environmental demand.

Figure 1: Plan view photomicrographs of woven geotextiles: (a) multifilament fiber (magnified 8×); (b) slit-film
fiber (magnified 8×)

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Figure 2: Cross-section photomicrographs of nonwoven geotextiles: (a) continuous filament (magnified 80×);
(b) staple fiber (magnified 80×)
The difference in pore structure may be found by comparing cross-section photomicrographs of a continuous
filament geotextile as shown in Figure 2 (a) and a staple fiber geotextile in Figure 2(b). The continuous
filaments tend to have more order within the cross-section as opposed to the staple fibers, which are random
throughout the geotextile. Staple fibers generally have a much tighter pore structure than continuous filaments
as shown in Figure 2 [31].

3. Production of Geotextiles
Conventional fabric production methods are majorly used for manufacturing most of the geotextiles. Production
techniques for the fabrication of geotextiles are apparently classified by Giroud [32] into two classes, i.e.
classical and special geotextiles. Typical products of textile industries such as woven, knitted, nonwoven fabrics
etc. are used in classical geotextiles, but in special geotextiles there are similarities in appearance but not the
exact products of typical industries. Net, mat, webbing etc. are applied in special geotextiles [32]. Classical
geotextiles are manufactured in two steps, i.e. production of fibres, filaments, slit films (tapes) and yarns and
converting these component materials into a fabric. Various procedures of manufacturing these constituent
materials used in fabrication of geotextiles are as follows [32]:

Filaments: The filaments are manufactured by ejecting a molten polymer through spinnerets or dies in a
conventional melt ejection process. To improve molecular orientation along filament, the filaments are drawn
afterwards so that the filaments gain a high tensile strength and modulus. For enhancing these mechanical
properties, numerous filaments can be extruded through spinnerets and spun, which is called multifilament yarn.

Short (staple) fibres: Filaments generated through spinnerets are cut into short length ranging from 2 to 10 cm
and twisted together to form a yarn.
Slit films: Slit dies are used to produce these films in a melt ejection procedure where they are subsequently
slitted through by sharp blade. These films can be further fibrillated and fragmented into fibrous strands called
fibrillated yarn.
The procedure of converting the linear elements mentioned above, namely filaments, fibres, slit films or yarns,
into various kinds of classical geotextiles are described below.
Woven geotextiles:
A woven fabric is constructed through two sets of orthographically interlaced yarn or filament.Depending on the
characteristics of interlacement of yarns or filaments the weave design or pattern is determined. The interlaced
filaments or yarns of longitudinal direction and transverse direction are respectively known as warp and weft
yarns. Comparatively multifilament, spun and fibrillated woven geotextiles are thicker than monofilament and
slit woven geotextiles.

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Nonwoven geotextiles:
When directionally or randomly oriented fibres are bonded either by friction and/or cohesion and/or adhesion
and constructs a batt, web or sheet is called nonwoven fabrics. Typically, nonwoven fabric can be produced in
two steps: formation of web (arranging the fibers in certain orientation characteristics) and bonding the fibres by
mechanical, thermal or chemical means. This two-step procedure brings the variation the nonwoven structures,
i.e. spun bonded, melt blown, carded, air-laid, adhesive bonded, thermal bonded, stitch bonded, needle punched,
hydro entangled, etc. Some important process of the production of geotextiles are described below.

Spunbonding:
The process deals with filament extrusion from spinnerets, drawing, lay down and formation of bonding. The
first two steps are mainly adapted from a typical melt extrusion technique, but the latter steps include the
deposition of filaments on to a conveyor belt in more or less in random manner. There is an important issue that,
spunbonded nonwovens are generally self-bonded, but for the development in the tensile properties, they can be
subsequently bonded by thermal, chemical or mechanical means.

Chemical bonding:
To produce a chemically bonded nonwoven, a binder such as glue, rubber, casein, latex, cellulose derivative or a
synthetic resin is added to fix together filaments or short fibres.

Mechanical bonding:
Mechanical bonding techniques can be classified as two types, i.e. needle punching and hydro entanglement
(also known as spun lacing). The factors which make the difference in mechanical bonding techniques are the
utilization of metal needles in needle punching, whereas high-pressure multiple rows of water jets are employed
to reorient and entangle a loose array of fibers into self-locking and coherent fabric structures in a hydrogen
tanglement process [33].

Thermal bonding:
Thermal bonding is generated by the application of heat energy to the thermoplastic component present in
fibrous web and the polymer flows by surface tension and capillary action to form the required number of bonds
at crossover positions of fibres [34]. It can be categorized in two classes, i.e. through-air bonding and
calendaring. In through-air bonding process, the fibrous web is passed through a heated air chamber, where the
bonds at the crossover positions are melted and reformed with the other components in the fibre. The
calendaring process includes the passage of fibrous web passes through a heated pair of rollers which impart
required high pressure and temperature.

Knitted geotextiles:
Interlocking a series of loops of filament or yarn forms a planar structure of this material. Like various designs
in woven fabrics, knitted fabrics can also be manufactured in numerous designs interlocking the loops in
different ways in the fabric structure.

Braided geotextiles:
Braided geotextiles are narrow rope-like structures making of yarns interlaced at a bias direction. The braided
structure is normally tubular in nature and various designs such as diamond, regular and Hercules similar to
plain, 2/2 twill and 3/3 twill incorporated in a woven structure [35].

Similarly, a two-step subsequent process is also followed in manufacturing of special geotextiles. They are
briefly discussed below [36].

Webbings:
These are produced from strips of moderate width and are similar to coarse woven slit film fabrics.

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Mats:
These are made of coarse and rigid filaments having tortuous shape similar to that of open nonwoven fabrics.
Nets:
Nets comprise of two sets of inclined coarse parallel-extruded strands and are bonded at the intersections by
partially melting one of the strands. These net structures can furthermore be manufactured employing a melt
extrusion method consisting of rotating dies through which the molten polymer is extruded.
Besides, composite geotextiles can be formed by combining several of the above products such as a combination
of multiple layers of knitted/woven/nonwoven by means of stitching, needlepunching, thermal bonding etc. In
the same way, mats/nets/plastic sheets can be sandwiched with one or two geotextiles especially for drainage
applications. Fiber reinforced polymer composites can also be used as geotextiles for different applications [7,
37-43].

Table 1: Geotextile producers and distributors in the United States (Industrial Fabrics Association International
1995) [31].
Woven geotextiles Nonwoven geotextiles
Amoco Fabrics & Fibers Co. Advanced Drainage Systems Inc.
Belton Industries Inc. Amoco Fabrics & Fibers Co.
BonTerra America Belton Industries Inc.
Carthage Mills BonTerra America
Construction Techniques Inc. Bradley Industrial Textiles Inc.
Contech Construction Products Inc. Carthage Mills
The Geo-Group Colloid Environmental Technologies Co.
Huesker Inc. Contech Construction Products Inc.
Hydrotex Synthetics Inc. The Geo-Group
Linq Industrial Fabrics Hoechst Celanese Corp.
NicolonMirafi Group Linq Industrial Fabrics
Siltco Industries Inc. NicolonMirafi Group
Synthetic Industries Synthetic Industries
Webtec Inc. TNS Mills Inc.
Welbeck Technical Textiles Webtec Inc.
Wellman Inc.

Table 2: Functional requirements for geotextiles [1]

Properties Geotextiles Functions
Reinforcement Filtration Separation Drainage Erosion control
Tensile strength A A-B B N/A B
Elongation C A-B C A-B B-C
Chemical resistance B-C C C C A
Biodegradability C C C C C
Flexibility A A-B C A-B C
Frictional properties C A-B A N/A B
Interlock C C B B A
Tear resistance A C C B-C B
Penetration A B C C B
Puncture resistance A B B C A-B
Creep C N/A N/A N/A N/A
Permeability N/A - A A-C B-C C B
Resistance to flow A A A A C
Properties of soil C B N/A N/A N/A
Water C C C C C

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Burial C C C C N/A
UV light B N/A N/A N/A C
Climate N/A C A C C
Quality assurance & C C B C A
control
Costs C C C C C
A = Highly important, B = Important, C = Moderately important, N/A = Not applicable

4. Geotextile Functions
The crucial functions of geotextiles used for pavement applications have traditionally involved separation,
filtration, drainage, and reinforcement. Nonetheless, different functions can be done by a certain geotextile
product, conversely, various types of geotextile products can perform the same function.In addition to their
basic function, geotextiles can perform one or more secondary functions these must also be considered when
choosing the geotextile material for optimum performance. For instance, a geotextile can use for separation of
two dissimilar soils (e.g., aggregate base and clay subgrade), but it may also use for filtration as a secondary
function by reducing the build-up of excess pore water pressure in the soil beneath the separator. Ageneral idea
of functions typically done by geotextiles in pavement applications is briefly described below.

4.1 Separation:
Between the two soil layers like coarse material and fine soil geotextile acts as a separator. It sets apart the
different materials and prevent mixing under application of load. It can be said that preventing pebbles mixing
with subgrade and penetrating the barrier is the function of geotextile [44]. Separationis the introduction of a
flexible porous geotextile located between different materials so that the integrity and the functioning of both
materials remains intact for the life of the structure or is enriched [45]. Application of geotextiles in constructing
pavements, intermixing of two adjacent layers is prevented. For example, the major cause of roads and
highways failure is constructing over insufficiently strong foundation which gradually gets contaminated by
mixing of aggregate base layers with the adjacent soft underlayer subgrade soil (Figure 3a). A geo textile is
subjected between these two layers which minimizes the contamination of aggregate base by the subgrade,
working as a separator (Figure 3b).

Figure 3: Separation function of a geotextile placed between base aggregate and a soft subgrade: (a) without
geotextile; (b) with geotextile
4.2 Filtration:
Filtrationis defined as the equilibrium of a geotextile-soil system that permits for adequate liquid flow with
limited soil loss across the plane of the geotextile over a service lifetime compatible with the application under
consideration[45].A common application showing the filtration function is the use of a geotextile in a pavement
trench drain (Figure 4). The geosynthetic-soil system should achieve an equilibrium that allows for adequate
liquid flow under conditions of consideration. As the flow of liquid is perpendicular to the plane of the
geosynthetic, filtration refers to the cross plane hydraulic conductivity or permittivity. Another important
property relevant to filtration is apparent opening size (AOS) - the opening size larger than 95% of the

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- which is compared to soil particle size characteristics. The coarser-sized particles eventually
create a filter bridge, which in turn retains the finer-sized particles, building a stable upstream soil structure.

Figure 4: Filtration function provided by a geotextile in a pavement trench drain

4.3 Drainage:
Due to different reasons, liquid and gas can be stocked up gradually. A geotextile material can gather and
redirect the liquid or gas towards the vent channel, i.e. the transmission of fluid is in the direction of in-plane
flow of fabric without any loss of soil particles [46]. Any geotextile material exhibiting good filtration and
permittivity properties can be used in drainage applications [47].

4.4 Reinforcement:
When insufficient stability and strength of subgrade soil is complimented, geotextiles with higher tensile
strength acts as reinforcement materials. The principle of employing geotextiles as reinforcement is to introduce
the geotextiles into the soil structure that increase the cohesion between the grains [48]. This modifies the
transmission of the load and the resulting composite is able to sustain higher loads. The forces exerted on the
structure as a result of different loads are transferred into tensile stresses, which further influences other
mechanical properties, such as puncture resistance [49]. The reinforcement is a complex phenomenon and
results from the combined behavior of soil geotextile interactions [50-52]. Reinforcement is the synergistic
improvement in pavement strength created by the introduction of a geotextile into a pavement layer. While the
function of reinforcement in the U.S. has often been fulfilled by geogrids, geotextiles have been used
extensively as reinforcement inclusions, particularly overseas, in transportation applications [53, 54]. The
reinforcement function can be developed primarily through the following three mechanisms [55]:

Figure 5: Reinforcement mechanisms induced by a geotextile used for base reinforcement:

(a) lateral restraint; (b) increased bearing capacity; (c) membrane-type support.

Subjecting a geotextile to act as a stress relief layer is referred to protection. Fluid barrier is the ability of a
geotextile material to prevent the migration of fluid. Typically, geotextile materials are employed as a fluid
barrier in roadways in two ways: when placed beneath a pavement overlay saturating with bituminous material
and when placed adjacent to a finer material under unsaturated conditions.

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Moreover, Giroud [32] has identified some other functions of geotextiles which are defined below.
Surfacing A geotextile works as a surfacing when a smooth and flat ground surface is needed and preventing
the soil particles to be eliminated from the soil surface.
Solid barrier A geotextile acts as a solid barrier when it prevents or ceases the motion of solids.
Container A geotextile acts as a container when it holds or protects the materials such as sand, rocks, fresh
concrete etc.
Tensioned membrane A geotextile acts as a tensioned membrane when it is sandwiched between two
materials having different pressures. The principle of using a geotextile is to even out the pressure difference by
balancing with the tension of the geotextile.
Tie A geotextile acts as a tie when it joins various pieces of a structure that is capable of moving apart.
Slip surface A geotextile placed between two materials by minimising the frictional characteristics of the
structure.
Absorber A geotextile acts as an absorber when it shares the stresses and strains transmitted to the material
that is required to be protected.

5. Major Geotextile Applications

In more or less two decades in the construction of railway, highway, embankments and retaining walls, erosion
control and drainage geotextiles or geosynthetics have been applied remarkably. Some of them are mentioned
below

5.1 Temporary Roads

Maximum construction sites need access to the site through weak surface deposits. Temporary roads are
constructed by spreading a carpet of coarse granular material (stone metal) over the soft subgrade to act as a
load dispersing medium which retains the stresses on subgrade low. Nevertheless, extensive rutting occurs on
the surface due to the granular fill getting lost into the soft subgrade under continuous pressure from the running
vehicles. This provides rise to perennial maintenance problems. The problems can be lessened, if not overcome,
by using a suitable layer of geotextile at the interface of the granular fill and the subgrade. This not only keeps
the thickness of the granular fill intact but the tensile strength of geotextile allows reduction in thickness of the
stone filling as well. Effective use of geotextiles has been made in a fabrication yard on soft dredged fill to make
the area suitable for movement of heavy cranes for jacket fabrication [56]. A depth of 700 mm of stone
aggregate was placed on the soft subgrade with geotextile at the interface. This not only allowed a saving of 200
mm of stone filling but enabled rapid construction of the fabrication yard.

5.2 Permanent Roads

In a permanent roadway application of textile materials not only reduces the thickness of pavement as well as
reduces the chances of damage and maintenance necessity in long term use. Geotextile also prevents the stability
reduction of the base subgrade by preventing the possibility of water constancy and intent to flow water into the
side drains which saves subgrade layers from getting softened and loosen. Geotextiles also defend reflective
cracking of the road surface when bituminous surface layer is cracked for maintenance.
A report was published on use of non-woven geotextiles as a pavement overlay to reduce reflective cracking in
the runway of the Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat by Tiwari and Ranjan [57]. At the cracked location strips of
fabric were placed on a V-shaped groove filled with a bituminous tack coat. Pressuring by heavy rollers a rigid
contact was made between fabric and tuck coat. Comparative analysis shows that, in the treated area without
geotextile fabric crack appeared within six months, on the other hand, in the fabricated area crack appeared after
two years that too on a very minor scale.
In case of railway, to scatter the huge amount of load into the subgrade soil the rail lines are subjected on a
gravel layer. For the regular load, the gravels get start to penetrate gradually which requires a regular inspection
and replenishment as the same thing happens for the pavement on week subgrade. High performance geotextiles
can be used for separating the gravels and equal load distribution on subgrade. As per estimation 2,400 km of
track belonging to Indian Railways is founded on weak soil and approximately 300 km of rail track require

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strengthening every year [58]. Nonwoven geotextiles have been recommended for reinforcement of tracks in
Indian Railways.

5.3 Embankments and Retaining Walls

Geotextile is more effectively used for reinforcement in construction of embankments and retaining walls in soft
soil. By filling geotextiles horizontally at the base of embankment it is possible to attain an erect side slope and
construction can be cost efficient. More importantly, in urban areas, project can be made cost efficient by
reducing the land coverage on the both sides of the embankment. By the limit equilibrium methods and
considering the fabric tension capacity the slope stability can be analyzed and applied the data to design. Non-
woven geotextiles have been used in Nava-Seva Port near Bombay to stabilize 9 m high guide bunds on soft
marine clay [59]. The geotextile was laid on the marine clay at a water depth up to 6 m from a flat-decked barge.
It was covered with a rock mattress and earth filling was done in stages to build up the embankment. The use of
geotextiles reduced the quantity of natural rock by 30% and the cost by 50% [60].

5.4 Erosion Control

Application of geotextiles in the erosion control sector is growing fast for attaining short term effects. In this
sector the materials are applied in a bit different way that they are laid on the surface and bot buried in the soil.
The main objective remains to control erosion and for making more efficient vegetation is established which can
control erosion naturally. The geo textile is then residue to requirements and can fertilize the soil by
degradation. Geotextile can intersect the running off soil particles and protect the unvegetated soil from natural
force like sun, rain and wind. Weeds and newly plant trees can also be inhibited by them. Erosion control can be
applied to riverbanks and coastlines to prevent undermining by the ebb and flow of the tide or just by wave
motion [1, 60].

6. Global Geotextiles Market

The global market for geotextiles is anticipated to grasp $8.24 billion by 2020, in keeping with a new study by
Grand View Research Inc. increased concentration on geotextiles and its uses in roadways and erosion
prevention is likely to be a key driver for the development of the market. Besides, increasing regulatory support
in emerging countries including India, China, UAE and Brazil is also projected to enhance the demand for
geotextiles over the forecast period. Road construction and erosion control were the leading applications of
geotextiles together accounting for more than 60% of worldwide demand in 2013. Growing infrastructure
spending in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Latin America are estimated to act as strategic features for driving
geotextile demand for this use. Road construction is likewiseprojected to be the fastest rising fragment over the
prediction period, at an estimated CAGR of over 9% from 2014 to 2020 [61-65].

Further significant outcomes from the research are stated below [61-65]:
The world geotextiles demand is expected to reach 4,323 million square meters by 2020 increasing at a
CAGR of 8.9% from 2014 to 2020.
Asia Pacific was the biggest geotextile end user and is also expected to be the fastest growing regional
market over the forecast period, at an expected CAGR of 9.1% from 2014 to 2020. North America is
also estimated to observer momentous progress on account of repair and maintenance for the vast road
network of the region. European geotextile market profits is estimated to touch USD 1.97 billion by
2020, increasing at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2014 to 2020.
Non-woven geotextiles were the most frequently used geotextiles in 2013, at an expected consumption
of 1,561 million square meters. Low cost and extensive application scope make non-wovens the most
desired among other geotextiles goods. Knitted geotextile demand is anticipated to reach 279.8 million
square meters by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 7.1% from 2014 to 2020.
The global geotextiles market is split with the top six companies catering to about 40% of international
demand in 2013. Significant companies in the market include Royal Tencate, NAUE, Low & Bonar
and Propex among others.

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7. Conclusion
Technical textile products are now going essential for every sector of engineering as well as our practical life.
Geotextiles has already been extensively used in various fields of constructions and civil engineering all over
the world. The market demand of geotextiles are also increasing tremendously. Currently the product serves
some functions such as separation, filtration, drainage, reinforcement and so on. But the range of functions of
geotextiles can be enhanced and the product can be made more potential and versatility of applications. In this
regard, more research has been required to enhance the performance of this valuable technical textile products.
Nanotechnology can be applied for this purpose and modification of both natural and synthetic fibers as well as
novel finishing process can be performed to attain the best desired properties for the diverse and viable practical
application of geotextiles.

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